Fact Check: Starmer's Humble Address Claim on National Security Exemptions
During Prime Minister's Questions on February 4, 2026, Sir Keir Starmer made a significant claim regarding the Labour Party's approach to humble addresses while in opposition. The Labour leader asserted that his party consistently included national security exemptions in these parliamentary motions. However, a detailed analysis by the Press Association suggests this statement does not fully align with the historical record.
The Claim and Its Context
Sir Keir Starmer told the House of Commons: "When we were drafting humble addresses in opposition, we always made sure that that exemption was included because we knew how important it was to the then-government. I do not think I have seen a humble address without that exemption." This statement was made as the Conservative Party prepared to move a humble address concerning the appointment of Lord Peter Mandelson as British ambassador to the United States.
What Are Humble Addresses?
Humble addresses are formal messages to the monarch, considered binding if passed by Parliament. They are traditionally used to compel the government to release specific information or documents. These instruments are relatively uncommon in parliamentary procedure, with none recorded on Opposition Days between 1992 and 2017 according to House of Commons Library data.
Analysis of Labour's Humble Addresses
The Press Association examined eighteen humble addresses tabled by the Labour Party on Opposition Days between 2015, when Sir Keir entered Parliament, and 2024, when Labour won the general election. This period covers the majority of Labour's recent opposition tenure. The analysis revealed that only one of these eighteen addresses contained wording that explicitly set a specific exemption for national security.
That single instance was the 2022 humble address concerning the appointment of Lord Evgeny Lebedev to the House of Lords, which specifically requested a response "in a form which may contain redactions, but such redactions shall be solely for the purposes of national security." This address dealt directly with matters having clear national security implications.
Subject Matter of the Addresses
The remaining seventeen addresses covered a diverse range of policy areas without including specific national security exemption clauses:
- Four addresses focused on Brexit-related matters
- Two addressed universal credit issues
- One concerned the Carillion collapse
- One dealt with the Windrush scandal
- Two addressed healthcare matters
- One focused on construction development
- One concerned education policy
- One addressed Covid-19 contracts
- Two dealt with school building safety
- One concerned Teesworks developments
- One addressed the Rwanda asylum scheme
Of these eighteen addresses, eight were ultimately adopted by the House while ten were not. Sir Keir Starmer personally moved three of the eighteen addresses during this period.
Historical Context and Precedents
The use of humble addresses has evolved over time, with the 2022 Lebedev case establishing a clear precedent for including national security exemptions when appropriate. This particular address demonstrated how such exemptions could be structured to balance transparency demands with legitimate security concerns. However, the analysis indicates this approach was not systematically applied across Labour's humble address motions during the examined period.
The Conservative Party's planned humble address regarding Lord Mandelson's ambassadorial appointment represents a contemporary example of how these parliamentary tools continue to be used to seek government transparency on sensitive appointments and international relations matters.
Conclusion
While Sir Keir Starmer's claim at Prime Minister's Questions emphasized Labour's consistent inclusion of national security exemptions in humble addresses, the available evidence suggests this was not standard practice. Only one of eighteen Labour-proposed humble addresses between 2015 and 2024 contained specific national security exemption wording, despite covering numerous sensitive policy areas. The 2022 Lebedev address remains the notable exception that established a template for how such exemptions might be structured when national security considerations are directly relevant to the information being sought.
